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NEW ZEALAND – NORTH ISLAND POSTS
North: Coromandel Seaside
“Good for your Soul” is the tagline for The Coromandel Region where Kiwis holiday. Two coastlines with mountain ranges and forest in-between.
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Northland: Cape Reinga
Far Far North – Glorious east/west beaches, Bay after bay is a picture-book spot. Cape Reinga is breathtaking and the point where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld
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Northland: Paihia Day Trips
This post features a massive boulder field (thank you volcano), gallery, parrots, and a bicycle trail (with eye-pecking magpies).
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Northland: Paihia, Opua, Russell, Kerikeri
Northland – SO MUCH sensory overload. It takes me by surprise at every turn – and there are a lot of turns!
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Northland: Paihia-Waitangi Treaty
New Zealand was transformed from an exclusively Māori world into one of European domination. The story is told at The Waitangi Treaty Grounds in the Far North. The historical site is stunning.
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Northland: East Coastal Hikes, West Kauri Trees
The one where I became addicted to coastal walks and climbing up the path…just to see. Then there were the trees!
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Northland: Whangārei-Tutukaka
Whangārei is a “stop and stay” city with day walks and Great Walks, volcanic summits on every bay, roads that dead-end at wild ocean beaches. There are 12 golf courses, horse riding on the beach, snorkeling, world class diving at Poor Knight’s Island, fishing, bird watching (twitchers), yachting, bicycling.
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East Coast: Gold! Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty – WOW! Named by Captain Cook. Warm and sunny with avocados, citrus, kiwifruit at roadside stands. And…oh those walks.
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East Cape Escape
Taiawhiti “The coast upon which the sun shines on the water”…except during a week of torrential rain. But we sloshed onward.
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East Coast: Hawke’s Bay
Wild Hawke’s Bay, on the lower east coast, is wild. Spectacular coast hikes, hilly (but not too difficult), ancient trees and thousands of gannets.
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Central: Tongariro National Park-Hikes
Feeling small, surrounded by giants in the Volcano Zone. Hiking in Tongariro a high point!
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Central: Taupō Volcano Zone
Mesmerized by plumes of steam, rainbow rocks, calderas, craters, boiling mud, and volcanos the Taupō Volcanic Zone called us back. Middle-earth is unforgettable.
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Central: Mt. Tarawera-Volcano Hike
Walking on a volcano! The Tarawera Crater Walk, an infamous eruption in 1886, a “blast” of a walk today.
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Central: Prismatic Rotorua
Between Rotorua and Taupo are fantastic geothermal areas with unique moss and mineral formations, crystal blue lakes, and lots and lots of steam
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Waikato: Putāruru Blue Springs, Green Trees
A Kaleidoscope….Nothing like it, so easy to find, and GIANT Redwood Trees.
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Waikato: Hobbiton
Welcome to The Shire: Visiting the Hobbiton is delightful! The original movie set is staged on the greenest of green hills with 44 hobbit holes dug into the hillside.
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Waikato: Waitomo Glowworms – Forgotten World Hwy
Driving a road called the Forgotten World Highway; Walking through a cave with “big shiny maggots” overhead. How compelling is that?
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West: Mt. Taranaki, New Plymouth
Taranaki and New Plymouth on the west coast of North Island, “the ring around the mountain”, forests, gardens and walkways.
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Lower North: Wine, Lighthouses, Pinnacles
Astoundingly beautiful day-trips around Martinborough with iconic lighthouses, cliff drives and rugged pinnacles.
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On The Road-Marlene & Steve 